The business landscape changed tremendously with the onset of COVID-19 in March. Food deliveries replaced restaurants. Online shopping gave a blow to malls while e-learning became the norm.
Amid all these disruptions, it’s surprising that some businesses have been performing incredibly well. Others were affected briefly but have bounced back since states began to ease lockdown measures.
In this article, we’ll focus on industries that have adapted to the new business environment quickly and bounced back from an economic downturn. Sounds good? Let’s begin.
Cleaning Businesses
When the nationwide lockdown started, most cleaning businesses had to shut down to protect their employees. Some of them even retrenched a handful of workers thinking business was going down.
A few months later, the cleaning industry is booming with business. The demand for fumigation and COVID-related cleaning is increasing rapidly. Companies that conduct hospital-grade disinfections are benefiting the most—cause that’s what’s in demand.
As you would expect, the demand for professional cleaning is much high at businesses, restaurants, hospitals and hospices. According to experts, the demand for professional cleaning is headed for a sharp growth as more states reopen.
Pennsylvania Casino Industry Reopening
The PA Gaming Control Board rolled out a robust blueprint to reopen in May. First, all casinos had to perform intensive cleaning and fumigation. Then they had to create safety guidelines for employees and patrons.
Essentially, the GCB created a plan to reopen the casino industry in the safest way possible. You can find a list of casinos in Pennsylvania presently in operation at casinos.us. Most of them enforce safe distancing rules but you can play all their games freely.
With that in mind, there’s an alternative to land-based casinos in PA. You could gamble online, playing slots, blackjack, poker, roulette and baccarat with as little as $5. You can use your desktop or mobile devices. And you can also claim a bonus to increase your bankroll.
Delivery Services
Businesses that traditionally depend on patrons coming to them are adapting by providing home and office deliveries. Let’s start with restaurants and pizza companies. Most of them have redesigned their websites to become portals people can use to order food.
Many restaurants focus on delivery cooked meals. But some companies are also restructuring to accommodate groceries and prepped ingredients. That way, people who want to cook at home and can prepare their meals without struggling to find groceries.
Food aside, home and office deliveries in general are seeing an uptick post COVID lockdown. From mails and gift boxes to items purchased online and at malls: offering deliveries is how businesses countrywide are adapting.
Drive-in Movie Theaters
The movie industry was hit hard by COVID-19. Nearly every theater shut down and cast members couldn’t do their jobs with a pandemic ruining everything. But as a way of fighting back, theaters have been showcasing movies through drive-in spaces at parking lots and parks.
Like cleaning businesses, drive-in movie theaters are witnessing an uptick of demand. That’s because Americans nationwide are yearning to get back to theaters. But with many of them shut down, the only alternative is drive-ins.
Most movie businesses will eventually have to adapt to the new economic environment. And that means drive-ins could stay around much longer than people imagine. Of course, that’s unless regular theaters figure out how to show movies and protect their customers at the same time.
Wine and Liquor Stores
Wine and liquor stores are surprisingly thriving in these tough times. In Some states, they were treated as essential businesses when COVID began and were never ordered to shut down. As a result, they’ve had a lot of chances to expand their territories, especially through deliveries.
Some alcohol stores have recorded up to 50% growth since the lockdown started in March. This growth was partly fueled by many Americans stocking up in fear the lockdown could have taken longer than anticipated.
The growth curve has since reduced now that some states have allowed bars and restaurants to reopen. Additionally, they briefly faced increased competition from online stores, restaurants and bars that restructured to offer delivery for liquors as a way of coping.
Canned and Jarred Good Businesses
As we mentioned above, the food industry has had a bit of adaptation to do since COVID-19 began. Some started to deliver groceries and delivered meals. Restaurants continued with what they do albeit while making deliveries.
On the flipside, canned food businesses have had their moments too. People have been stocking up a lot of canned meals since March, especially food that can remain fresh for weeks or months.
For better or for worse, extreme stocking up has reduced. And that means the brief boom canned businesses had from March to May has gone down. Despite that, some businesses are still experiencing demand from people under quarantine.
Game Developers and Sellers
Casinos in PA are not the only game providers thriving in these unusual times. Game developers are responding to demand for online entertainment with games for children and adults. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, there’s a particularly huge demand for puzzles and game boards.
Generally speaking, online gaming has been performing incredibly well since COVID-19 began. That’s because it relies on the Internet, which is yet to be affected by the pandemic.
What’s more, people under lockdown have been looking for new ways of entertainment and gaming was one of the best options. The result is that all gaming related businesses have been thriving, from eSports and streaming to casinos and mobile gaming.
Fitness Companies
When gyms closed down at the start of the crisis, most managers didn’t know when they would reopen. When things got worse and there was little hope of reopening, they restructured and discovered how to provide their services safely.
Precisely, today’s fitness companies have moved online. They charge subscriptions to help customers select meals and portions sizes. And they guide them through at-home exercises thanks to live video streaming.
Another way these businesses are adapting to the new normal is by helping people create home gyms. From yoga mats and treadmills to weightlifting equipment: selling these items is how fitness companies are thriving.
